First booking to first review

Turo’s earnings-plan and check-in pages: take pre-trip photos of interior, exterior, odometer, and fuel or charge no more than 24 hours before the scheduled start. Upload them no more than 24 hours after start. Post-trip: take and upload within 24 hours of the end. Report physical damage in that same 24-hour post-trip window.

Photos need metadata — date, time, geolocation. Turo says photos without that metadata are deemed invalid. Use the Turo app to shoot when you can. Same angles before and after. Four corners, roof if you can, windshield, wheels, interior seats and carpets, trunk, dash (fuel/charge + odometer). Close-ups of every existing scratch so you are not arguing about a crease that was already there.

This is tedious. It is also the difference between a reimbursed bumper and a shrug. More on what happens when it goes wrong: Claims. The guest-damaged-my-car path is on Turo damage claim.

These are trip photos for claims, not the listing gallery. Listing photos — at least 10, no stock — are on Turo listing photos. The check-in walk — license first, then those trip photos and the 24-hour clocks — is on Turo check-in.

Full tank or a stated charge percent, photographed. Put the rule in the listing and in the pickup message. If a gas or hybrid comes back short, the missing-fuel invoice — gauge photos, 72-hour receipt, $10 fee — is on Turo fuel. If the guest bought a prepaid fuel or charge Extra, do not also invoice that. EVs: say the connector, the return percent, and where the cable lives. A missing NACS or J1772 cable is a trip-killer; keep a spare if you can.

Walkthrough (recommended on trip one). Ten minutes: lights, wipers, charger, how to use the camera if it is road-facing, where the inflator is, what “full” looks like on this cluster, and a joint photo set. You confirm the physical license. You look like a person, not a vending machine.

Lockbox. Code in Turo messages the day before — never in the public listing. Tell them the stall, the color, the plate, and what to do if the shackle will not open. Turo: support cannot read them the code. Change the combination after every trip. If you use remote unlock, still confirm the license first. If that stall is an airport garage, the delivery fee, permitted lots, and 4-hour window are on Turo airport delivery.

A lockbox lives on How the guest gets the key. Pickup order — license first, then the code — is on How Turo lockbox pickup works. A road camera lives on Gear. A tracker you disclose lives on Trackers.

Stay in the Turo app. Do not move the guest to your personal number. A tracker that pings every three minutes is for theft and claims, not for texting “I see you on I-5.” Turo can use device data for recovery and for reckless-driving reports — that is not a license to narrate the guest’s weekend.

Message when it helps: a weather warning, a “lot gate closes at 10,” a reply to their question. Do not ask how the vacation is going on day two. If the car leaves a geofence you care about, document it and use Turo’s process — do not play detective in chat.

We also host Down Yonder, a Lake Harding lake house rental. Same rule there: stay out of the guest’s weekend.

Same angles as pre-trip. Fuel or charge. Odometer. Smell the cabin (smoke is a fee path, not a vibe — the report is on Turo smoking). Look at wheels and glass. If something is wrong, photograph it in place before you “clean it up.” Start the Turo invoice or damage report inside the window. Be specific and calm. “The rear passenger door has a new 6-inch crease below the handle that is not in pre-trip photo 14” is a claim. “Car is destroyed!!!” is a review you will regret.

Crumbs and beach sand are usually yours to vacuum. Turo’s cleaning violation is for abuse — biowaste, a full-detail stain, extreme caked-on exterior — not a car-wash bill you invent. How clean the car has to be, whether you can charge a cleaning fee, and the cleaning Extra: Turo cleaning.

If the guest still has the car after the scheduled end, wait 30 minutes, stay in the app, and report a late return — the walk is on Turo late return.

Windows: incidentals (fuel, extra miles) follow the plan — 5, 4, or 3 days. Physical damage: 24 hours after trip end. Tickets and tolls: Turo’s Help says 90 days after trip end — pay if it is on your plate, then the Tickets invoice on Turo tickets. Details on Claims.

Turo’s page about trip reviews: after the trip, both sides have 10 days to rate and write. Reviews show when both have rated, or when 10 days pass, whichever comes first. Once submitted, they do not get edited. Missing the window means no review.

A decent ask, after you have marked the car returned and you are not mid-dispute: thank them, say you hope the [airport / weekend] went smoothly, and that a rating helps the next guest trust a personal car. One message. If they already had a problem, fix the problem — do not ask for five stars on top of a crease.

Do not offer cash, a refund, or a “I’ll take the Extra off if you five-star.” That reads as a review-for-hire and it is a rotten first habit.

How Turo counts a 5-star rate, the quality-standards phases, and when Turo will consider removing a review is on Turo reviews.

You will send the same dozen notes for years. Keep them short, specific, and in the app.

• Booking confirmed. Dates, car, that exact pickup instructions come the day before, bring the license they verified, 10-minute walkaround if you are meeting.
• Pickup / lockbox. Time window, stall, color, plate, how they get in, what is in the glove box, “photo the four sides and the odometer before you leave.”
• Running late. You still have the car; what time should you expect; the latest you can wait; after that the lockbox stays live until X or you have to secure it.
• Fuel or charge short. The listed level, the level it came back, that you started a reimbursement with the receipt, they should send proof if they already fueled.
• Extend / early return. They request it in the app so they stay covered. You cannot move coverage in a text.
• Something broke or someone hit it. First question: is everyone okay? Then photos, police report if it applies, and you will file in Turo. No blame paragraph in the first note.
• Review. One thank-you. One ask. Stop.
• Stay in the app. You do not need their cell number. If they ask, decline politely.

The full 24 templates — pickup, smoking, EV charging, airport, dirty return, “please stay in the app” — are in the $19 Starter Kit. This page is the map, not the pack.